Tenants claim the apartment is littered with rats and cockroaches. (KTLA) |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Who's the worst slumlord in Los Angeles?
A KTLA special investigation shines the light on one likely candidate, a slumlord whose tenants have been living in conditions no human should be forced to endure.
It's happening in a low-profile building on an LA street, not in some third-world country.
Inside, Ursula Vasquez & Roberto Abarca, and Bibiana Coria & Jose Morales have no hot water, no heat, no proper plumbing, and no proper stove. What they do have are rats and cockroaches, leaks and mold, and truly deplorable living conditions.
Staff attorney Cynthia Mendoza of the tenant advocacy group Inner City Law Center showed these tenants' shocking conditions to KTLA's cameras.
For nearly 18 months, Ursula and Roberto have been forced to cope with a fast-leaking sink that requires them to dump the excess water into their toilet. They have a dangerous makeshift propane stove. Ursula has been peppered with roach bites. And the rats? They're relentless.
"She's showing us rat droppings, and she's telling us that she cleans it every day," Mendoza explains, translating from Ursula's Spanish.
Yet all of their pleadings for help have fallen on deaf ears. "Every time they've complained to the owner, nothing's happened," Mendoza says.
Mendoza told us that the building's previous long-term landlord, a man named Jacinto Martinez, has simply refused to lift a finger. "Jacinto Martinez has essentially ignored the problem altogether," Mendoza says.
The unfinished hallway outside Ursula and Roberto's tiny unit displays a gaping hole where the rats enter. So their neighbors are on watch.
"Here the tenants have put up this board to shield them from the rats that come up and down this hallway," Mendoza explains.
Inside, Bibiana showed us the marks left by her cockroach bites. And a persistent leak in their bathroom ceiling might have had truly tragic consequences for Bibiana.
"There was a leak here," Mendoza translates for us. "The floor was wet, she came out of the shower and fell. She was pregnant at the time, and she miscarried."
Bibiana and Jose have lived in their tiny unit for two years, paying $600 a month. While Jose looks for work, it's all they can afford.
Jonathan Galatzan in the Los Angeles City Attorney's office says these kinds of tenants are the real victims of LA's worst slumlords.
"The slumlords look at their property as strictly a business, and it's about the bottom line," Galatzan says. "They forget there are human beings living in these buildings, who deserve a certain standard to live by."
Mendoza and Inner City Law Center have filed suit against Martinez, in an effort to help this building's tenants reclaim their lives, and their dignity.
"No one, no matter what their circumstances, should have to live in these conditions," Mendoza says.
Documents show that Martinez, the man whom the tenants hold responsible for the deplorable conditions, sold their building last year. Martinez did not return KTLA's phone call for comment. He has so far avoided the lawsuit filed against him by Inner City Law Center.
If you or someone you know is not getting satisfaction from a bad landlord in Los Angeles, you can call the Los Angeles Housing Office, at 866-577-RENT.
A KTLA special investigation shines the light on one likely candidate, a slumlord whose tenants have been living in conditions no human should be forced to endure.
It's happening in a low-profile building on an LA street, not in some third-world country.
Inside, Ursula Vasquez & Roberto Abarca, and Bibiana Coria & Jose Morales have no hot water, no heat, no proper plumbing, and no proper stove. What they do have are rats and cockroaches, leaks and mold, and truly deplorable living conditions.
Staff attorney Cynthia Mendoza of the tenant advocacy group Inner City Law Center showed these tenants' shocking conditions to KTLA's cameras.
For nearly 18 months, Ursula and Roberto have been forced to cope with a fast-leaking sink that requires them to dump the excess water into their toilet. They have a dangerous makeshift propane stove. Ursula has been peppered with roach bites. And the rats? They're relentless.
"She's showing us rat droppings, and she's telling us that she cleans it every day," Mendoza explains, translating from Ursula's Spanish.
Yet all of their pleadings for help have fallen on deaf ears. "Every time they've complained to the owner, nothing's happened," Mendoza says.
Mendoza told us that the building's previous long-term landlord, a man named Jacinto Martinez, has simply refused to lift a finger. "Jacinto Martinez has essentially ignored the problem altogether," Mendoza says.
The unfinished hallway outside Ursula and Roberto's tiny unit displays a gaping hole where the rats enter. So their neighbors are on watch.
"Here the tenants have put up this board to shield them from the rats that come up and down this hallway," Mendoza explains.
Inside, Bibiana showed us the marks left by her cockroach bites. And a persistent leak in their bathroom ceiling might have had truly tragic consequences for Bibiana.
"There was a leak here," Mendoza translates for us. "The floor was wet, she came out of the shower and fell. She was pregnant at the time, and she miscarried."
Bibiana and Jose have lived in their tiny unit for two years, paying $600 a month. While Jose looks for work, it's all they can afford.
Jonathan Galatzan in the Los Angeles City Attorney's office says these kinds of tenants are the real victims of LA's worst slumlords.
"The slumlords look at their property as strictly a business, and it's about the bottom line," Galatzan says. "They forget there are human beings living in these buildings, who deserve a certain standard to live by."
Mendoza and Inner City Law Center have filed suit against Martinez, in an effort to help this building's tenants reclaim their lives, and their dignity.
"No one, no matter what their circumstances, should have to live in these conditions," Mendoza says.
Documents show that Martinez, the man whom the tenants hold responsible for the deplorable conditions, sold their building last year. Martinez did not return KTLA's phone call for comment. He has so far avoided the lawsuit filed against him by Inner City Law Center.
If you or someone you know is not getting satisfaction from a bad landlord in Los Angeles, you can call the Los Angeles Housing Office, at 866-577-RENT.
